Stolarz sharp, but can’t save Maple Leafs in home preseason finale

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Pick through the sloppiness and the Maple Leafs weren’t all bad on Thursday night.

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Their best player in a 3-1 preseason loss against the Detroit Red Wings happened to be goaltender Anthony Stolarz, who sparkled with 40 saves at Scotiabank Arena.

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On the whole, the Leafs would have liked to have been more sharp, but we’re talking about early October hockey here. The players weren’t sweating it and neither should Leafs Nation.

Our takeaways from the game:

POWER-PLAY PROOF

With Morgan Rielly back on the No. 1 power-play unit following the departure of Mitch Marner, there’s a renewed emphasis on getting a shot through from the point.

We’re not necessary talking about velocity here, as placement is just as key. In the absence of a booming shot from Rielly, part of what coach Craig Berube wants to see is directness.

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The Leafs scored on their first power play, early in the first period, when Rielly got the puck to the net and Auston Matthews scored soon after on a pass from Matthew Knies.

There’s nothing a coach likes more than having some evidence to back up what he has been preaching.

“What he did right away, was he shot it,” Berube said. “Created the shot, created the stress and the chaos for the PK, and we got a goal out of it. Just being direct like that. We want to establish a quick shot right away on the power play and he did that. That’s a big key for me.”

The Leafs were ninth on the power play last season and what Rielly does will help determine whether Toronto can stay in the top-10.

Rielly wants to rebound after a sub-par 2024-25 regular season. One area that will help elevate his overall performance is what he does when the Leafs’ first power-play unit goes over the boards.

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The direct shot and movement along the blue line are instrumental.

“I want to improve on that area,” Rielly said. “It’s about movement, about the balance between being deceptive and just making the first quick, hard play, shooting puck, all that.”

This was Matthews: “We have two big guys (Knies and John Tavares) that are in the middle and in front of their net and that can tip pucks and create rebounds. That’s been a point of emphasis. Trying to break down their structure from there, once we recover the puck or whatever happens from there, using our instincts, but especially early on, trying to get pucks through.”

The Leafs couldn’t replicate it on two power plays that followed. That they got it to work initially was a step.

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STOLARZ IN FINE FORM

The Wings had 17 high-danger chances at five-on-five, and what impressed us most was Stolarz’s ability to track the puck.

Yes, there were times when Stolarz had to be spectacular, but overall, his positioning was on point.

“I thought I was good, I thought I was calm in the net,” Stolarz said of his work. “I was seeing the puck very well. For me, it was getting a full 60 minutes and looking cool and collected.”

Detroit’s first two goals in the third period came after the Leafs couldn’t clear. The Wings also scored into an empty net.

There has been much talk about where the Leafs go in net, once they get past Stolarz, with the continued absence of Joseph Woll.

Whether the Leafs sign James Reimer or give Dennis Hildeby a look as the backup, there really shouldn’t be much consternation. Not with Stolarz locked into the No. 1 spot.

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After playing in a career-high 34 games a year ago, Stolarz said he doesn’t have a specific number in mind for 2025-26.

“Not really,” Stolarz said. “I expect to be leaned on quite a bit here. I’m just preparing each and every day and taking it all in. You don’t want to look ahead.”

KILLING IT

Did the Leafs want to put themselves in a position to kill six penalties? No.

When the work is required, will they meet it head on? On Thursday night, they did.

The pairs of Matthews and Knies; Scott Laughton and Steve Lorentz; and newcomers Nicolas Roy and Dakota Joshua all did their part in staving off the Wings. Aside from the work of Stolarz, of course.

All six defencemen, led by Simon Benoit’s team-high five minutes 33 seconds, had significant penalty-killing time.

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“(Some) new personnel, a new kind of structure within our penalty kill, so in a sense, it’s good to get those reps,” Matthews said. “But there were some penalties that we could have maybe avoided.”

Matthews, by the way, made note of his own play.

“I felt good,” Matthews said. “Physically, felt really good, a step better than the previous game I played in. We have some time before (the regular-season opener on) Wednesday to have some good practices and continue to push ourselves and battle and compete and make sure that we’re ready.”

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ROOKIE RECOGNITION

Easton Cowan wasn’t going to let a defensive miscue get the best of him.

Though it was not recorded officially, a Cowan turnover in the defensive zone led to a Detroit chance, though the 20-year-old was able to eventually clear the puck.

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“Honestly, I liked my game,” Cowan said. “Thought I created a couple chances. I’d want one play back, but that’s about it. You live and you learn.”

If you still harbour even a sliver of doubt about whether Cowan will be in the lineup against Montreal next Wednesday, consider what Berube said after the game. Without being prompted specifically, Berube said the fourth line has been “good for me all camp.”

Cowan isn’t going to lie awake for the next couple of nights whether he has made the team. Nor should he.

“I wouldn’t say nerve-wracking,” Cowan said. “I felt like I did good things, and played some of my best hockey I’ve played in a while and that’s a good 200-foot game, generating chances.”

tkoshan@postmedia.com

X: @koshtorontosun

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